


Infinity

by Chibi_World_Breaker



Series: Part of another world [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Post-Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 00:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21065474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibi_World_Breaker/pseuds/Chibi_World_Breaker
Summary: They lost, Thanos had the stones and they were stranded on an alien planet. Then the sky cracked and everything went red.





	1. Prelude - Titan

Prelude - Titan

His breaths came in short gasps, anything else would set his entire left side off in pain, so it was only due to muscle memory that his hand sprayed the wound that went _through_ his side with the med Nanos from what was left of his suit.

"Mr. Stark!"

There was someone… He fought against the pain clouding his vision, trying to focus on the familiar voice…

"_Oh man… _K-Karen? Ch-change the setup to patch web and - uh - r-run a diagnosis too ok?"

"On it Peter."

Now there were hands on his face, making him look up to-

"Mr. - Mr. Stark? How do- H-how do you feel?"

"Hey Kid," he said recognizing Peter, his voice weak and delirious "Wha- where are we?"

Peter furrowed his eyebrows, and a glint of panic settled in them. Why was he panicking?

"Karen?"

"I can't get a clear reading of Mr. Stark's injury, the nanotech he applied to himself is not compatible with my scanner, but it _is_ working on fixing the damage. I think that the pain caused by the injury is high enough to make him delirious."

There was a whispered curse before Peter's voice filtered back through the haze he hadn't noticed was clouding his mind again.

"Mr. Stark, I'm going to apply a variation of web that helps with injuries ok?"

Tony just nodded dumbly and smiled, there was something important going on just before…

_Thwip-thwip_

The effect was almost instantaneous, first something cold pressed to his side, and then the pain dulled until it was something he could actually deal with and not the overwhelming sensation from a moment ago, and then he was being laid to the ground by-

"Peter?"

"Mr. Stark!" he said, brightening at the clarity of his voice "Are you feeling better?"

Tony nodded, and moved his hand to his side, where he felt-

"Don't touch it!" Peter scolded softly, stopping the motion with his hand. "It's barely holding over your nanotech, all it's doing is work as an anesthetic so…"

Silence fell between them as he took in his surroundings, everything coming back to him. The flying donut, rescuing Strange, the fight with Thanos…

The attempt to stop Thanos…

"Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Did we really lose?"

God, how much it pained him to hear that fearful tone coming out of his upbeat and nerdy intern…

"Well," he said, wincing as he tried to sit up, and giving Peter _a look _when he tried to force him back to the ground, "the giant raisin wiped the floor with all of us and got what he wanted, so…"

Another second of silence went by, while he saw the ragtag team that tried to make a stand against Thanos group back around him and Peter, sans-

"It's all as it must be," Strange spoke for the first time from his spot, leaning against a rock while looking about to fall again at any moment.

"So we were meant to lose?" the purple mean-looking girl hissed, ready to tear Strange a new one, and actually he felt like joining too "Then why go through the effort to fight him?"

Strange said nothing at first, he just turned in his direction, then he opened his mouth.

"If you make God bleed, then the people will stop fearing him, and the sharks will come."

_Ivan Vanko… _But what did that-

The ground started to rumble making everyone fall again.

"What now!?" He heard Quill yell over the noise.

"I'm sorry Tony!" Strange shouted back "But we're in the endgame now!"

"Mr. Stark!" Peter's voice reached him "Look!"

Tony turned his head in the direction the finger pointed to, where he could see _a crack_ _in the sky_.

"What the-"

The sky shattered, and everything went red.

* * *

**A/N: **The first note will go on the next chapter, double upload after all :D


	2. Chapter 1 - Destiny Islands

Chapter 1 - Destiny Islands

_"-this time I'll get her for sure!"_

_"-you won't make it back!"_

_"Please take care of her."_

_A smile_

_A tear_

_"Sora, no!"_

_"Goodbye Kairi…"_

_A shadow_

_Red_

_Red_

_RED_

_Kairi!_

* * *

"Kairi!"

_Thunk!_

"Ow fu-"

_Click!_

"Agh!"

As if the pain caused by his head colliding with the top bunk wasn't enough, he also had to be blinded by the flash of a camera going off on his face _and_ listen to the annoying snickers of his roommate. All he did was glare at the general direction of the sound.

"Awww, you look adorable Sora, just like an angry puppy"

_Click!_

"Goddamnit Roxas," he grunted. "At least turn off the flash"

"Where would be the fun in that?"

Still grumbling he blinked several times to get rid of the black spots dancing on his view, slowly regaining focus on what was exactly in front of him and seeing a smirking upside-down Roxas with his face illuminated by the screen light of his phone, typing something on it and stealing a look at him every now and then.

"I hate you."

"No you don't," Roxas answered cheekily without missing a beat.

Sora kept his glare for an extra second before sighing and leaning back on his bed.

"No I don't," he admitted in defeat, before smirking and snatching Roxas' cell phone out of his hands.

"Hey! That's personal!"

"Yeah, right," he said with a snort while reading the chat Roxas was in, making the boy pout and cross his arms. "Isn't it bad to be so much time upside down?"

"Dunno," Roxas answered with a shrug, reaching for his phone and Sora giving it back with a roll of his eyes.

"Y'know it's not normal to be sharing photos of my sleeping habits to strangers in New York. I'm sure that's even a crime somewhere."

"Harls' not a stranger." The blond sounded genuinely upset. "He's a cool guy."

Sora opened his mouth to point out that _he_ didn't know the guy, but Roxas stopped him.

"Wait, too much blood in the head, gotta switch position." Then his head and arms disappeared upwards, replaced by his legs a couple of seconds later.

"Better?" Sora asked once the springs of the top bunk mattress stopped squeaking.

"Yeah, now you may speak again" The brunet snorted but rose his legs and started to push Roxas' feet with his own.

"What I wanted to say before you so rudely interrupted me-" Sora could feel Roxas' eye roll "-was that I've never met the guy before, therefore he's a stranger."

"Uhhh, no." The _duh _was so heavily implied on his tone he might as well have said it "He's the _motorcycle guy _I joined you in a chat group with once, but you left because all he said sounded like gibberish."

"Ohhhh… Well, not my fault I'm not a motorcycle freak like you or Squall. That's also no reason to let him see me _sleeping_."

"Oh, don't worry, he also lives with someone else, and, like, he's also a light sleeper. We have this competition going on, who can get the most embarrassing photo of the other's roommate."

Sora felt genuine shock for a second, then sighed.

"I know I should make an effort to feel more… bothered by the clear violation of privacy, but at this point? I think this is normal for you, and by extension for me too."

"Ehhh… I'm sure I still can one-up myself consistently for the next four months or at least until classes start again."

Sora didn't deign that with an answer.

The two remained in silence for the following minutes, Sora still kicking Roxas' legs and pondering if he should go back to sleep, hearing the soft sound of keys being tapped coming from Roxas' phone, and his occasional snicker.

"Sooo…" Roxas broke the silence "Kairi, huh?"

"Kairi what?"

Roxas' feet disappeared and were replaced by the blond's head and arms again, the phone still in hand.

"You were practically crying her name there, that's why I woke up, I thought you were having a nightmare at first, but _that voice dude!"_

At Sora's deadpan expression Roxas pressed a button on his phone and the boy could hear himself mumbling and indeed almost crying Kairi's name, making him blush at Roxas' knowing grin.

"Still crushing on the crone then? Quite hard by the sound of it."

"O-of course not!"

Roxas sighed and disappeared back to his bunk, but then swiftly jumped down and made Sora scoot closer to the wall, occupying the spot next to him on his bed, the brunet immediately letting him put an arm under his head and resting his forehead on his shoulder.

"You had it hard for her, didn't you teddy bear?"

"I guess? I wasn't sure what was going on there… She used to be nice back then."

"It wasn't that long ago, just last month."

"Feels like a lot more… What happened?"

"We moved into her cove because life at the mainland was too expensive, met the rest of the hags she calls friends and you were deemed too immature to date her, now she seems to hate your guts for some unknown reason."

"_I know _what happened, it was just a rhetorical question."

"You sure? Because sometimes it feels like reminding you is the only way to keep you from chasing after her like a lost puppy."

"I don't… I mean, I'm aware… It's just… I- I thought…"

"Hey, I know how frustrating this is for you, believe me, I do, you've whined about it enough for me to get the idea, but you're doing better now! I'm sure you'll find someone else to be… Whatever it was you were with the crone."

Roxas could feel the smile Sora gave him, even if his face was still buried on his shoulder, and it made him smile too.

"Thanks, honey bear."

"Whenever you need me, teddy bear."

Two minutes later Sora huffed and Roxas ignored him.

Five minutes later Sora huffed again, but Roxas gave no signs of having noticed him, back to typing on his phone.

By the ten minute mark, Sora got tired of huffing and licked Roxas' arm, to which said teen reacted by stopping typing, very slowly turning his head towards him and raising an eyebrow.

"Really Sora?" he asked in a dry tone.

"You were ignoring me," Sora said pouting.

"'course I was," Roxas grumbled. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

Sora's pout became… poutier.

"I can't… what time is it?"

"Early, I'm sure."

"Roxaaaaas"

"Fine, fine," the blond snapped without actual heat. "Almost noon, happy?"

Sora's head snapped up, eyes wide and disbelieving.

"What?!"

To his credit, Roxas managed to keep his face straight for two whole seconds before bursting into laughter, and Sora felt oddly proud of him for that feat.

"We're supposed to help Squall and Cloud finish with the stuff in the kitchen and living room today, and I'm _not _hearing them bitch about me being lazy" Sora said with narrowed eyes "What. Time. Is it?"

"Ok, ok," Roxas said still chuckling "Almost seven, jeez, what a grump."

Sora stuck his tongue at him before jumping out of bed and heading to the bathroom, quickly shouting, "You get up too! I'm not suffering them alone!" Before closing the door.

Roxas sighed and made a show of getting out of bed even if nobody saw him.

**Bow to your RoxLord:**

_Hey, gotta leave now, Sora's on one of his annoying responsible streaks, talk to you later?_

**Harls Daves:**

_Sure, I was planning on raiding Tony's workshop for spare parts anyway and that usually takes hours, for an engineer he's messy as fuck._

**Bow to your RoxLord:**

_I'm sure you're worse._

**Harls Daves:**

_I have a system, ok? I know where my shit is… Usually._

**Bow to your RoxLord:**

_Whatever. Today we'll get our first tourists and we need to get the house ready. They'll be here by noon so…_

**Harls Daves:**

_Yeah, right, you were bitchin' 'bout that yesterday like crazy, just text back whenever you're free, I should be free by then. And Rox?_

**Bow to your RoxLord:**

_Yeah?_

**Harls Daves:**

_Say hi to Peter for me when you see him._

**Harls Daves ** _is offline._

Roxas blinked at the screen for a couple of seconds, being caught off-guard by the odd request, his towel and change of clothes for the day ready when Sora stepped out of the bathroom, flip flops making wet noises as he stepped back into the room, towel at his waist, taking out a pair of shorts and a tank top.

"Get ready, I'll make something for breakfast." And with that, he was gone.

Six minutes later Roxas was out of their room grumbling while sporting a Pikachu-themed t-shirt.

"Cloud! You got our clothes mixed up again!"

* * *

_Dear future me:_

_If you wake up before the kiddies kick them out of their bed and make them serve you until you go pick the info on the invaders 'cause you - with some help, almost none, from Squall - finished the work alone and are (were?) bone tired._

_Dear kiddies:_

_If you're awake before me then you're welcome, Squall got annoying and made me do your work alone, the bastard. Eat something and do whatever until 10, then go to the city hall and ask the receptionist about the invaders, if there's anything extra you need to know they will tell you, then you're free until noon to get the invaders here._

_Set the alarm in my room for 11 and I'll take care of things here, so you're welcome, again._

Roxas snorted as he took a bite out of his ice cream, the cartoony doodle of Cloud's face winking at him from the paper a cute reminder of the easygoing nature of his brother.

"What does it say?" Sora asked, his face popping over his shoulder, ice-cream smeared on his face.

"First, ew, go clean your mouth." Sora gave him a wet kiss on the cheek, smearing all the sticky remains there, before grabbing a napkin for himself and one for Roxas.

"You," Roxas said, pointing at him after taking the napkin Sora offered, "are a pig."

Sora stuck his tongue out at him.

"So, Cloud says that we need to pick up the info on the people coming today from the city hall and then wait until they arrive. Are they still sleeping?"

"Yup! Both conked out on the couch, Cloud's drooling all over Squall's shirt."

"Oh, I need a photo of that."

"Way ahead of you," Sora said in a sing-song voice, waving his cellphone in front of Roxas' face, making the blond snatch it and laugh at the photo.

"Save it to the blackmail folder," Roxas said giving the phone back.

"Done."

"Cool, take out a couple more popsicles, I'll go set the alarm in Cloud's room."

"They won't hear it all the way there."

"I know." And with that, he left the kitchen cackling. Cloud would be mad, true, and maybe even Squall too, but like the good brother he was, he would do exactly what Cloud told him to do.

That would teach him to leave his clothing alone.

* * *

_"You do realize Cloud will skin you alive."_

"He'll be too busy cleaning the drool from Squall's shirt to do that."

_"Whatever dude, if you don't make it can I get your sneakers?"_

"Sorry dude, Sora already called dibs on them, but I can arrange that those jackets you really like remain free."

_"Thanks, Rox."_

"Should I be worried you sound so happy about my potential demise?"

_"Nah, I would be more worried about Hayner finding out he won't get the sneakers or the jackets. He'll go berserk."_

"I'm all the way here in the islands if he ever finds out, let Olete deal with her bf for me."

_"Yeah, right. How's Sora doing?"_

"Still pinning after the Crone but he's doing better now, maybe- oh shit"

_"What happened?"_

"Speak of the devil… gotta go. Hopefully, I'll save Sora from a relapse, wish me luck"

_"Good luck Rox, say hi to Sora from us"_

"Sure Pence."

After ending the call and pocketing his phone Roxas made his way to the shrill sound of laughter coming from the stairs to the city hall.

"Kairi!" He said with faux cheerfulness. "What do we owe the displeasure of your presence today in this fine establishment?"

"Roxas" she answered not at all bothered by the blond's hostility, the other three girls that were walking with her looking insulted just by his presence. "I never got to welcome you properly to the islands. Welcome, I really hope you enjoy your life here and that you and your family contribute to the growth of the community like every other person that lives here."

"Oh, I see," he said not at all impressed by the speech. "This is the daughter of the mayor I'm talking to. Might as well make use of you while you're not ignoring me."

The girls surrounding them glowered at him but Kairi kept the smile on her face and her tone light. "About the tourism program your family applied to, I presume? Of course, it's not unusual for new Islanders to struggle with it. You already have a tourist group assigned, I suppose."

"Yeah, Sora went in a while ago to- look who decided to finally come out… Sora! Over here!"

Kairi's smile froze when she saw Sora, and Sora's cheerful demeanor was replaced with shock when he saw her, but dutifully headed towards Roxas looking torn between curious and afraid.

"Finally!" Roxas said ignoring the tension around them, taking the papers out of Sora's hands and handing them to Kairi. "Thought you were asking the receptionist out. The Cro- ehhh, Kairi here has graciously offered her help with all this tourist trap stuff, right?"

Kairi's eyebrow twitched, and it took some time for her to react, but she took the papers from Roxas' hands with an almost grunted "fine"

A couple of seconds later she practically threw the papers back at him, along with every pretense of being civil.

"I don't know what you two are playing at, but my father will hear about this."

Then she was stomping her way up the stairs along the rest of the girls, leaving a confused blond behind.

"I blame your stupidity," Sora said suddenly, looking still out of sorts, but better than Roxas imagined.

"Why?"

"Have you read who are we hosting?"

He looked down at the papers somehow in his hands and read out loud.

"Scheduled for immediate arrival: Virginia Potts - Peter Parker. Scheduled for delayed arrival: Anthony Stark - Harley Keener. Observations: Strife-Lionheart household picked personally by Mr. Stark."

"Well?"

**Bow to your RoxLord:**

_Fuck you Keener._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Chibi here bringing you my first Fic ever! I'm a huge fan of both KH and the MCU so this idea popped up out of nowhere and I said - yeah, sure, why not? - so here we are.
> 
> This is the first and only double update because both the prelude and this chapter set the tone of the story, but the uploads will be twice a month, so expect the next chapter at the end of October, so if you liked the fic so far be sure to check it out!
> 
> Huge thanks to QueenBoudicatheGreat, the awesome beta who decided to help me even if I had no previous experience so this could be good for you guys to read. She's an author here at Ao3 so yeah, be sure to check her works, they're awesome.
> 
> That's pretty much all I had to say this first time, hope you liked it and see you the next time. Bye!


	3. Chapter not 2 - Private Plane

Chapter 1.5 - Private Plane

In his personal opinion, Peter was justified in being equal parts scared and annoyed. His great plan for the weekend was to finish up the meager amount of homework left before summer break and then waste away the rest of it between videogames at Eugene's and helping Tony at the workshop. Harley could join him after apologizing for sharing photos of him drooling over his Capitan America pillow.

He _had_ talked to Roxas before so he was not a total stranger - potentially a creep, but this was a matter of principles!

So imagine his surprise when he found the rest of his little family already waiting for him at the table that Saturday morning looking so smug that he was actually scared for his safety.

"Pepper? I thought you would return from Hong Kong on Monday."

"Well good morning to you too Peter, I'm also happy to see you," she said with a mock offended tone if the smile she was sporting was any indication, but he blushed anyway and crossed the distance to hug her.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too honey," she answered, returning the hug earnestly.

"And what are we, chopped liver?"

"What? You also want a hug Tony?" Peter asked after separating himself from Pepper and fixing the position of his glasses.

"Nah. So any plans for the weekend?"

"Of course not" Harley interrupted before he could open his mouth.

"Great!" Tony continued, clearly aware of Peter's frustration over not being allowed to talk. "Because I _do_ have plans for us."

"Plans…"

"Yup! Now go get ready, the plane leaves in three hours."

"Plane…"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Harley drawled, "the Captain of Midtown's academic decathlon team."

Later he would find out, after obediently preparing his stuff, that Tony had arranged a two-week-long trip to Destiny Islands for all of them, a trip he was sure would cost enough to pay for his and Harley's college studies.

"Think of it as a fair reward," Pepper had explained softly later. "Principal Morita himself has sent letters of praise about your and Harley's development as students and, in your case, as a good influence for your peers. Tony just wants to show you how proud he is, this is his way of doing so."

Later he would find out that she had talked down Tony from buying him an underground parking lot full of cars he doubted his ability to pronounce the name of, much less drive them.

So here he was, almost five hours later, just a few minutes away from landing in what many would consider a tropical paradise, wearing one of his many science pun t-shirts along with shorts he never imagined wearing and sandals.

He felt totally out of his depth.

"Peter," Pepper called for him careful not to wake up Happy who was snoring a couple of seats behind them still wearing a suit, "are you ok?"

"I... think so?"

"If you're asking me, then the answer is no."

Peter blushed and ducked his head.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

"No, it's not that… I just- Don't think I'm not grateful for this, I am, but I'm not sure what to make of it. I mean, I'm a nerd, I'm aware of that and I accept it, I love Legos and Star Wars movies and science and- but this?"

"You seemed to enjoy your time at Malibu," Pepper said, now sounding a little uncertain.

"I did! I swear I did, but it was different, back then it was just the four of us, Mr. Rhodes too sometimes, but now we're going to an island where everyone will be watching and there will be other kids and they'll think I shouldn't be there and…"

"Shhh…" Pepper hushed him softly, having moved next to him during his small rant and now pulling his head to her chest. "You don't have to worry about what others think, we are going to have a great time and nothing will spoil it."

Peter wanted to complain more. Make sure that she understood that beaches and skate rinks and surf and all that stuff was for cool kids and he was not a cool kid, he was just Nerdy Peter Parker but decided against it. This was one of those very rare occasions Pepper would take a break and just enjoy herself, Tony had stayed behind until Monday to make sure of it while Harley smoothed things with the Decathlon team.

"One of the island families will host us too, there are two boys your age you'll get to meet so you won't be alone."

Nobody told him that.

"Were they picked randomly?"

"No, Tony chose them at Harley's insistence. Actually, all this was Harley's idea."

"Oh… do we know who are they?" He asked, an idea of what was actually happening forming in his head.

"Yeah, here" she handed him a sheet of paper with their travel information.

"Strife-Lionheart Household" he read out loud.

"Sounds interesting, doesn't it?"

Peter just nodded and took out his phone.

**May the blocks be with you:**

_Fuck you Keener._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Chibi here, on schedule!
> 
> This is not Chapter two, I know, but it is a new chapter, I swear! Why did I choose to do this? Simple, my brain is messier than my room, so if I don't separate stuff nicely this story will end all over the place not making sense, like at all, and making a long-short chapter cycle helps me to don't get writer's block. Hope you don't mind
> 
> Once again huge thanks to QueenBoudicatheGreat, the awesome beta who decided to help me even if I had no previous experience so this could be good for you guys to read.
> 
> See you next time. Bye!


	4. Chapter 2 - Destiny Islands

Chapter 2 - Destiny Islands

"-and when I hang him by the balls and he begs for mercy, I will deny him!"

"Huh," Sora said actually impressed. "I'm sure I've heard about the brick one before, I just don't remember where."

"History Channel."

"Ohhhh, that torture techniques documentary, right."

It was a little past noon and both Sora and Roxas were waiting on the private part of the Island's airport for the Stark plane to arrive with their first two guests.

"I mean," Roxas continued ranting, "how could he do this to me?"

"You've been raging about this for the last two hours so, against my better judgment, I'll ask, why are you so worked up about this? I mean, yeah, it was kind of a dick move to force the office to hold the info about them for so long, but besides that?"

"Sora, teddy bear, your innocent remark would be cute if I wasn't blowing a coronary here. This is the first group of tourists we're housing on the island, the first one, and we already got a group of VIPs that could easily rival the president of the United-fucking-States!"

"That _must _be an exaggeration, right?"

"Let's see… the CEO of Stark Industries, the company that is only missing a way to make the toilet paper interact with your smartphone _and _the _mutherfucking _retired Iron Man-yeah, I don't think I'm exaggerating."

"Fiiiiine, but why are you so stressed anyway? Isn't this a good thing? Like a good kickstart for us here on the island?"

Roxas sighed heavily and slumped in a nearby sofa because of course, the VIP waiting zone for private planes would have sofas. Sora wearily followed him.

"Remember who convinced our goofballs of brothers that moving into the islands was a good idea?"

"Cid?"

"Technically he gave the idea, yeah, but I was the one who ran calculations about our incomes at the mainland and our potential gains here. I was the one who told them that it would be relatively easier to have a life here if we could put up with sharing our home with strangers on a regular basis until we paid up the fee to actually own the house… the idea was to start small and go up from there, make ourselves a name as good hosts and good neighbors and have a nice, calm life, or as calm as the Crone and her covenant would allow us…"

Sora giggled at the joke attempt, but he could tell that Roxas was really worried about this.

"Now? Now we'll get a huuuuuuge target on top of us, a neon sign with bold letters screaming _influential _to the rest of the island once word gets out that we have an ex-Avenger and his fiance in our home. Money won't ever be a problem again if this goes well, true, but everyone and I mean _everyone_ will be biased about us, they will either lick the floor we walk over or spit on it, and while it doesn't bother me that much, you and your brother will have a hard time."

"And Cloud?"

"That bastard will love it, if only because it will let him screw with more people than what should be legally possible."

Both laughed at that, more genuine this time.

"Hey," Sora said, placing a hand over Roxas' knee, "we'll make it work. We still have each other and our brothers, and the gang back at Twilight town too. Plus, I'm sure you'll come up with something."

Roxas smiled at the encouraging words, but whatever he was about to say was drowned by a feminine voice coming out of a speaker indicating that the Stark plane had arrived and that their first two guests would be arriving soon.

Roxas gulped loudly but did his best to breathe deeply and relax, Sora just smiled at the rare display of genuine concern from his best friend - practically brother at this point - and turned to the newcomers when the glass doors dinged open.

And started laughing.

It was ridiculous, he knew, and to most if not all people the most it would get would be a roll of their eyes or a small smirk, but for some reason the "Get rational" "Get real" pun shirt the other boy was wearing seemed like the most hilarious joke he'd ever seen.

It took Roxas a moment to catch on, because really if the first reaction Sora would have to their guests would be to laugh at them then they would have a serious talk in the near-immediate future, but when he realized that he was laughing at Peter's - because he had seen enough pictures of the guy already - stupid math pun shirt he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

He also felt grateful that the overreaction distracted him enough to get his shit together again, but he would not say it in front of the others.

"Excuse him," he said loudly once Sora's laughs started to die down "But Sora here has a weakness for puns I never imagined a normal human being could develop."

"You think it's funny?" Peter asked with a small smile.

"Yeah!" Sora answered beaming, flush red from his previous laughing fit but not at all bothered by it. "Not everyone will get it, so that's smart too" Then he started giggling again and Roxas groaned.

"Oh god Sora, that was bad even for you."

"So this is how Tony feels when you and Harley ignore him, huh?" Pepper asked looking at the three kids with an amused smile.

"Sorry Miss Potts, my name is Roxas and as you already know that giggling mess is Sora."

"Hi!"

"You'll be staying at our home for your two weeks here so… Welcome to Destiny Islands! Hope you enjoy your time here. We can take your luggage-"

"No need to kid" Happy said walking inside as if waiting for his cue, making Peter and Pepper roll their eyes "I'll take care of it, just tell me where to deliver it."

"Aren't you hot on that suit? It's like 28 degrees out there" Sora asked, but was totally ignored as Happy took the paper with the address from Roxas and made his way outside again.

"Excuse Happy," Pepper said still smiling. "He just takes his job too seriously sometimes"

"Ehhh, no offense taken" Roxas answered seeing that at some point Sora had migrated next to Peter and was currently babbling his ear off, but Peter looked more relaxed than he was when he first entered the room and was even sporting a small smile.

"So… it's only the two of you? Or…?"

"Huh? You mean like, if we live alone?" Pepper nodded "Nah, Squall's Sora's brother and Cloud is mine, they would have come instead of us but-" he froze there when he remembered his little prank in the morning.

"But?"

"They were a little, uhhh, _busy_ back at home so we are here instead."

"Oh," she said looking a little uncertain "busy like… couple busy?"

Roxas blanched at the implication of the innocent question, his mind instantly providing him with images of… _that_.

"Oh no, dear God no! They were just finishing with stuff that was out of place or still unpacked!"

"Sorry, it's just that it sounded like…"

"Don't worry?" he said a little embarrassed. He had almost screamed at Pepper Potts, after all, reason justified or not. "Sometimes people get that idea too with them or us," he explained pointing at Sora. "They've been friends since forever, now they're our guardians so we live together, that's all."

"Pepper!" Peter called sporting a genuine smile this time. "Sora says that there's this place that has a sandwich buffet and if we hurry we can get all the good stuff!"

Roxas' muttered "Of course you would bond over food" went unheard by Pepper. "Sure Peter, let's just go to their home for a change of clothes and a quick shower before going out, ok?"

Peter nodded and was dragged outside by a laughing Sora, smile still not going away.

"Sorry about him," Roxas said smiling fondly. "It seems things just clicked with Peter and he's happy about it. We're also relatively new to the islands too so there are not many people to hang around with."

"Don't worry Roxas, I'm actually happy to see Peter smiling so easily, he's usually this open only around people he thrusts like Tony or Harley so it's reassuring that he has someone to enjoy his time here with."

Roxas nodded and turned towards the door.

"So… shall we?"

"What a gentleman," she said, stepping out as he waited for her to go out first.

"You seem pretty chill about your welcome committee being two very informal teenagers Miss Potts."

"Please just call me Pepper, I get enough of _Miss Potts _on a daily basis and I'm on vacation here. And you two look like good kids so it doesn't bother me. Actually, when you deal with a board of directors on a daily basis, there's not much that can really get to you anymore. Besides that you act more mature than most of the people I interact with every day."

Roxas snorted, then rolled his eyes when he saw that Sora had already gotten them a cab and was waving at them from inside, Peter also sticking his head out from the other door.

"I suggest we hurry up or they might leave us behind."

Pepper laughed and followed him.

* * *

Dealing with Tony's antics for as long as she had was equal parts stressful and amusing in a way she knew _very few _people would understand, and that gave her a perspective in life that had helped her deal with situations, even laugh at them, that otherwise would have set her off right away.

For example, the scene they just arrived at.

_Bam, bam, bam_

"Open this door right now or I'll kick it down!"

"Happy?"

Said man turned towards her with an expression of mixed relief and annoyance.

"Finally! I've been calling to yours and the kid's phone for almost 20 minutes now, where were you?"

"Well… the kids liked the music playing on the radio the way here so it _may_ have been loud enough to miss the calls, why?"

Happy sent her an annoyed stare and proceeded to slam his fist on the door three times, loud enough to make her flinch and catch the attention of the kids still talking with their driver, but nobody opened.

"Right… Sora? Roxas? A little help here?"

The island duo made their way towards her immediately while Peter lingered for a second behind surely saying goodbye.

"But they should be up by now!" She heard Roxas complain, and Sora gave him a deadpan look, to which the blond only sighed "They'll skin me alive, won't they?"

"Think of it this way," Sora answered while searching for his keys, "they'll at least wait until the two weeks are up. They need us to keep Peter happy."

Happy started tapping his foot with his arms crossed and a frown on his face, so Sora ducked his head and opened the door.

"Cloud! Squall! We're home!" But nobody answered to Roxas' call, so he sighed and walked inside.

Next was Happy, their packs already in hand walking behind Roxas.

"Hey kid, where do I put this."

"This way," he said pointing with his head. "The rooms should be ready anyway." They both disappeared through a door under the stairs to the right.

"Come in," Sora said next to her, Peter by his side "there's not much to see but I'll show you around." they all stepped inside and Sora closed the door.

"Sorry for that outside," Sora continued, motioning them to follow through the door Happy and Roxas went through, "Roxas thought it would be fun to prank Cloud so he set his alarm far enough for him not to hear it, they must be still out on the couch."

"So he's in trouble?" Peter asked looking at a room where Roxas was helping Happy set things on the floor.

"Nah, they might get mad when they wake up, but most likely we'll be laughing about it later. That's yours and Harley's room, by the way, Pepper's room is this way."

Pepper and Peter stopped to stare at him with a confused look.

"What?"

"Usually," Peter said "people take longer to obey her and just call her Pepper. I remember this guy that would refuse to call her anything but Miss Virginia until she threatened to fire him."

"Of course I wouldn't do that" she replied with a laugh. "It's just that it was getting irritating. But Peter's right, there's always more reluctance to be less formal with me."

"You were asking for it" he said with a shrug, as if it explained everything. "I'm sure you wouldn't be if you didn't mean it." With that he continued walking down the small hallway. "That's your room, your stuff is already there, and this last door is your bathroom. You'll have to share but I'm sure it's no problem for you-"

"Sora!" Roxas called from the door to Peter's room, Happy by his side.

"Hmm?"

"Get Cloud and Squall up. I'll show Happy-" Happy grumbled something but Roxas ignored him "-to his hotel, then we can all go get something to eat." With that he was walking out with the older man nodding to Peter and Pepper before walking out too.

"Well, you heard the guy, we have around an hour before Roxas is back to get ready, maybe even a little more if Cloud is being grumpy."

"Do you even know where is Happy's hotel?" Peter asked.

"Nope! But all the nice hotels are near downtown and that is about half an hour from here, so it's not really a stretch. I'll let you get ready and deal with the other two ok?"

At their nods, Sora put his hands on his short's pocket and made his way to where his brother and Cloud were still sleeping.

"Peter?" Pepper asked.

"Hm?"

"Could you come a second?" She said pointing to her room.

"Sure."

When they entered she sat on the bed and patted the spot next to her.

"So… what do you think so far?"

"What about? The trip as a whole or…?"

"The kids, the house, the place… I don't know, just what is your first impression?" So far she had enjoyed their company, she could tell Peter had taken a liking to Sora and Roxas had surprisingly managed to keep up with her ramblings about SI while also playing his part in keeping Peter distracted, and had even suggested a couple interesting ideas she wouldn't mind talking about with Tony so she was sold, but she still needed to make sure Peter was fine with it.

"It's… different," he said after taking a moment to think. "But not a bad different. I mean, the island is fine and everything looks cool, and Sora is great! First, he got the pun in my shirt," Pepper chuckled at that, "and then he was asking if I knew more of them, so I told them the ones I knew and he understood all of them! So far only Tony managed that, so I tried to get him into more scientific topics and- well, yeah, he couldn't keep up with everything but he never got mad about it and even asked me to explain! And he was sincere about it, I could tell, he really wished that _I_, nerdy Peter Parker, explained to him why it would be hard to throw earth's trash to the sun!"

"That's great sweetheart," she said, caressing his cheek, relieved he was content too, taking note of how his little ramble focused just in Sora and not Roxas.

"I just hope everyone here is as cool with us as they are."

At that Pepper's smile faltered a little.

"I hope so-"

"AND YOU LET THE LITTLE SHIT DO IT? SORA WHAT THE FUCK!?"

There was a muffled response before more shouts filled the house.

"IRON MAN COULD BLOW THAT WALL RIGHT NOW AND I WOULDN'T CARE! I'LL HAVE ROXAS' BALLS FOR THIS!"

Then there was loud stomping up the stairs and the slam of a door.

"Well…" Peter said after a moment of silence, "at least now we know one of their brothers won't go fanboy over Tony."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Chibi here, on schedule!
> 
> And so we are on chapter two, which is actually chapter 4? Kind of? More meat to bite here with a longer chapter, hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it, I really like to write my characters interacting this way with each other.
> 
> Next update! Like I said uploads will be twice a month, so next half chapter will be on November 30th, and will feature our favorite Southern boi and Iron dad, with a dash of FRIDAY.
> 
> Once again huge thanks to QueenBoudicatheGreat, the awesome beta who decided to help me even if I had no previous experience so this could be good for you guys to read.
> 
> See you next time. Bye!


	5. Chapter not 3 - New York

Chapter 2.5 - New York

Harley laughed as he pocketed his phone, Roxas and Peter's messages doing wonders to ease the current ball of nerves that was his general self, his hand feeling a little sweaty against the manilla folder he imagined Tony would be searching for like crazy.

He was so happy the man agreed to his plan for a family vacation because one, Pepper was _long _overdue some relaxation, and two, if he was going to do this then Peter needed to be away, otherwise he would feel pressured once he found out and that was in no way, shape or form what he wanted to happen.

The elevator door dinged and he stepped to the crystal doors separating him from the whirlwind of curses and thrown papers that Tony had transformed into, and that sight alone was enough to ease any doubt about not thinking this through, this is what he wanted in his life and now he was sure Tony wanted it too.

That, and he would probably be in trouble for this little stunt, hopefully the former revelation would outweigh the latter.

"Hey FRI," he said to the ceiling, "let me in without telling Tony, ok?" The manilla folder was shown to the camera for good measure, the lawyer firm stamp visible.

"Sure, little boss," the AI answered after a moment's hesitation, the frantic muttering coming from Tony now clear as the doors slide open.

"-was here, I'm sure it was here!"

"Hi Tony!"

"Gah! Gimme a heart attack won't you kid," Tony said while clutching his chest on the spot where once was an arc reactor. "Who let you in?"

"I did, boss," FRIDAY said from the ceiling sounding a little smug. "You seemed to be in distress and little boss' name was called many times, along with nerdy boss' name, so when he asked for entrance I allowed him in."

Tony looked at the ceiling for a moment with narrowed eyes, before muttering "Clever girl," and turning back to Harley, his smug smile oddly not as annoying as he remembers it being and a file in his hand-

"Something wrong Tony? You're looking a little pale there" Harley said giggling to himself, but when he didn't answer the smile turned to a frown and he stepped closer, leaving the file in the table next to him.

"Hey, Tony, are you still with me?"

But Tony's sight was fixed on the folder along with thousands of questions, but in his current panicked state he could only wheeze out "W-where?"

Harley flinched but tried to turn his sight back to him.

"C'mon Tony, look at me."

Tony shook his head and asked again, this time with more strength to his voice.

"Where?"

"Last week," Harley finally answered, "you left it on top of your workbench on Monday when you went to pick somethin' to eat with Peter, got curious and…" he finished with a shrug, looking guilty to a side.

Tony nodded, satisfied with the answer even if not remotely fine with it. This was not how he planned this to go.

"Well," he finally said, "it seems I cannot trust the kids around sensitive documents."

He was still feeling a little lightheaded and he was sure he still looked like a ghost, but he no longer felt like he would pass out any second now, so he turned back to Harley who looked like a scolded puppy.

Heh, serves him right.

"No sense dancing around the question then, you read what's inside?" Harley nodded. "Ok... Ok…" A little of the previous panic settled back in, but he ignored it and reached for the file. "I guess you want this destroyed," he said as he turned to the paper shredder he for some reason had down here, but a hand on his wrist stopped him.

"At least read it through before doing something stupid," Harley said finally looking at him, a weird expression on his face, a weird mix between annoyance, fear and… hope? He couldn't mean- he tore through the document like a ravenous dog until he found what he was looking for, and he found it.

There, in the pointed lines, was Harley's signature.

For a second time that day all strength left him, but instead of dread and fear this time it was relief and happiness that almost left him like a giggling mess on the floor.

"You signed it," he said breathlessly.

"Yeah," he said with a shrug, his Southern drawl, almost gone at this point, making a return signaling how stressed he was about this. "It was obvious at this point so now it's just official, nothin' big-"

It was an impulse, but a hard one to resist, so Tony just went with it and hugged his son, tears running to his eyes at the thought, who returned it just a second later.

"Peter knows?" Tony asked after letting go of Harley.

"No," the teenager said, using his thumb to clean a tear from his eye. "This was my choice, and mine alone If I told him, he would feel pressured, and that's not fair. If he wants to join us it has to be all him. But I doubt he wouldn't, I've heard the word _dad _a couple of times now."

Tony nodded, the smile never leaving his face and even growing more at what Harley said.

"Good, good," he said. "I'll have this ready before we leave for the islands," he said pointing to Harley's adoption file, "and take this one," he said taking another file out of somewhere, this one with Peter's name on it, no doubt, "with us. I'm trusting you in this one Keener, if he really wants to then I won't deny him any longer."

"Cool, there's only one problem now."

"What is it?" Tony said, fear creeping back in.

"Not _Keener _anymore, it's _Stark_ now old man."

Tony let out a bark of laughter hearing that, and once again acting on impulse he did something he remembered his mother used to do when she was happy, bringing Harley's head down and kissing the top of it.

"Now go to your room _Stark,_ you're still in trouble for taking these without permission."

"But _daaaaaaad_!"

"Just go," he said chuckling, "I'll be up in a second"

Harley stuck his tongue out before the workshop doors closed.

"You knew about this FRI?" Tony asked the AI.

"I may or may not have been aware of little boss' intentions at the time, but nothing he did went against any protocols so…"

The way she let the word hang made Tony laugh and shake his head.

"I'm proud of you Baby girl, call mom now, won't you?"

"Calling Big Boss," she said, and her voice sounded… happy.

"Tony, something happened?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Hello to you too sweetheart, and yeah, something happened. You won't believe what Harley did."

And while Boss talked with Big Boss, FRIDAY took the liberty to create a "Stark Family" file and stored both Little Boss and Boss' previous interaction and the recording of Boss' phone call, she was sure all the family would appreciate it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Chibi here, on schedule!
> 
> Chapter 2.5 (basically chapter 5 but eh, who's counting?) hype! Like Tony is retired from being Iron Man here his now he'll become Iron Dad! And Harley is a little shit, like always. Why I say Harley lost most of his drawl here? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out. 
> 
> Next up update! Chapter 3 will be up on December 15, where we'll get another point of view, along with another set of problems. 
> 
> Once again huge thanks to QueenBoudicatheGreat, the awesome beta who decided to help me even if I had no previous experience so this could be good for you guys to read.
> 
> See you next time. Bye!


	6. Chapter 3 - Destiny Islands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was not beta-ed, sorry for any grammar mistakes (it shouldn't be too bad) more info in the notes at the end. Enjoy!

Chapter 3 - Destiny Islands

"This is stupid" he muttered under his breath for the whatever time as he absentmindedly sidestepped another person on his mad dash through the street, the indignant shout lost to him as his mind narrowed on just one thing, his legs accustomed to moving on their own.

He had seen those names before, he was sure of it, but despite how hard he tried the memory wouldn't come back to him, so he just hoped the old man got luckier than- "whoa!"

His quick reflexes saved him from a hard meeting with the ground, sadly his sidestep wasn't enough to spare the guy on the board from losing his balance and hitting the floor hard.

He was by his side in an instant helping him up.

"Sorry dude," he said apologetically "I would have caught ya' but you were going too fast."

"Nah" he answered once up, wincing as he felt - and saw - the new scrape on his arm "at least I'll get more scabs for the jar."

"Scabs?"

"Silly bet between brothers, thanks for the help dude."

"No prob," he said with a shrug handing the board back to the blond boy, feeling like he had seen him before once he saw his face "kinda my fault too, I wasn't really paying attention"

"Hmmm… you new around here?"

"You could say so…" he said picking the guy's board and handing it back.

"Then I'll call it even if you tell me your name," he said with a smile, making him lift an eyebrow "I just like meeting new people, and you look like a chill guy" he added with a shrug.

"Sure" he answered with another shrug, feeling no ill intent from the guy, just pure curiosity, the reason being as good as any "Miles," he said extending his hand "Miles Morales."

"Nice to meet you Miles" the blonde answered while shaking his hand "I'm Roxas."

Miles' reaction went unnoticed by Roxas, as he threw his board back to the ground and put a foot on it "We're already with a group of tourists but if you need any help just ask for me or Sora to any of the guys selling ice cream, they'll point you straight to our home. Bye!"

When Miles found his voice again Roxas was long gone, but now everything made sense… kind of.

"Of course this place would be _that_ Destiny Islands, and of course the train station would take you to _that _Twilight Town… Maaaan, why me?" Then he sighed and started running again.

"If heartless start popping everywhere I'll make PB deal with them and if he can't make a keyblade appear… well, then that's his problem" and still grumbling he made his way back to the restaurant Peter signaled as their meeting point.

* * *

"This is bullshit" he grumbled, a fry disappearing into his mouth "utter bullshit."

"Language old man," Miles warned as he took a seat in front of him, taking a fry out of the basket on the table, not even acknowledging the glare Peter sent him before dragging the basket closer to him.

"This is your fault."

"How is this my fault?"

"Dunno" Peter answered with a shrug "but it's your fault."

Miles just rolled his eyes.

"I guess you found something then?"

"Something?" Peter said with a snort "it's not been even a month and I'm stranded on another dimension. _Again. With you._"

"You tell me" Miles sighed as he hit his forehead against the table "ouch."

Peter chuckled at the kid's antics.

"It could be worse," he said nonchalantly while grabbing another fry "you could be Noir."

Miles snorted at that before lifting his head "And the wind would follow him even here, along with the smell of rain… tropical rain," he said making his voice sound raspy in a poor attempt to imitate Noir.

Peter stared at him for a second before chuckling, his companion following suit shortly after, but it wasn't long before Miles sighed and planted his forehead on the table again.

"You go first, I can't imagine a way it can be more ridiculous than the shit I just found out."

"Language" Peter warned with a smile, but with Miles' lack of answer and previously defeated tone, he realized the kid was just being dramatic.

"Short version, this is another parallel dimension that, like yours, is very similar to my _main_ timeline _but_ with a major difference."

He paused for dramatic effect, trying to get anything out of Miles, but the kid just made some sort of sound he imagined meant 'continue' so he rolled his eyes and continued.

"In this dimension, there is no spiderman."

That got Miles to, at least, lift his face from the table.

"Like, he died like in mine but there was no replacement?"

"Nope, like there never was _any_ spiderman."

That got Miles frowning.

"But I thought there was a _you_ in every dimension? or at least a version of me, or Gwen, or... you get the idea."

"Jeez, kid, Spiderman may be a coincidence but not a norm, don't let the name get to you."

Miles just gave him an unimpressed deadpan stare that Peter completely ignored.

"Well, there _is _a Peter here but… here" he gave Miles his phone "you better read it yourself."

"I thought our phones were dead here?"

"They still get Wi-fi signal, now read."

Miles took the phone and started reading, giving it back after a couple of minutes.

"So in this dimension, Iron Man adopted you?"

"Not… adopted, just took _him_ under his care after May and Ben died."

Miles took the phone back and scrolled a couple of times before showing a photo of a very young Peter and another teenager dogpiling Tony in a massive double hug.

"I've met Iron Man and _that _is something he wouldn't let anyone do, I'm sure."

"You've already met Tony!?"

"Yeah," Miles said with a shrug "came looking for me to give this" he lifted his arm to show a watch, "Said he owed a lot to Peter and his work as Spiderman so he was happy there was already a replacement, but that I was just a kid and there was stuff that was way over my current level to handle alone so I should stay low for a while, just be a friendly neighbor Spiderman, and if I ever needed help just push the red button here and he'll come to help."

Peter had an unreadable expression as he heard Miles, eyeing the watch intently as if it held something hidden within.

"That was all? No question about who's under the mask? Your family?"

"Nope, just the watch, the warning and then he flew away. Why? There's something wrong?"

"No…" he answered after a few seconds "it's just… that was oddly mature of him" then he shook his head and focused back to the matter at hand "The thing is in this dimension May and Ben died at the same time, in an alien invasion that never happened in _my_ dimension. Yours?"

"No, never seen an alien actually. Will I meet one someday?"

"If you spend enough time in this hero gig it's bound to happen."

"Cool!"

Peter rolled his eyes at Miles's innocent answer, almost seeing a younger version of himself reacting just like that when Tony…

"Anyway, Tony felt responsible because he managed to save this universe's Peter but not his uncles and took him to the tower, then some terrorists blew up his house and he disappeared for a while. _Then _returned after beating the bad guy, retiring as Iron Man _and _with another teenager in tow. Now he's a consultant of sorts to the avengers and the guy who founds their gear."

"So… is it something good?"

"Don't know, don't care. This is not my dimension so it's not my problem."

"Gee, selfish much?"

"Look, kid, I have my own problems to deal with back at home, and my stress levels are high enough as they are right now so let's just leave this world's problems be and hurry to get back to our own dimensions ok?"

Miles narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, but after thinking for a moment nodded.

"That actually sounds smart… mean but smart."

"Oh? You admitting I make good decisions?"

Miles just narrowed his eyes at him.

"Ok, ok, jeez kid calm down."

"I may not like it," Miles said, "But I'm also starting to feel things piling up for me between being Spiderman and school. Ganke helps a lot but I feel like he's making the extra effort I should be doing for me and that's not cool, so…" a shrug "the island is nice and some time not worrying about exams or stopping crime sounds nice."

"Hey kid" Peter's voice took a softer tone, along with a genuine smile, "I'm sure you're doing a great job back at your home, just… I know it's not easy but it's what we do ok?"

Miles smiled back and nodded, but then his eyes caught something behind them and widened like saucers.

"Holy shi- Peter, don't turn around but Peter's behind you."

"Wha-"

"Right, also, I think we're inside a videogame too."

"Wha-"

"Don't turn!" He whispered-shouted grabbing his arm "I'll take a photo."

It took some time to take the photo without being obvious about it, but after Peter saw it he swore.

"Pepper's here too? Wait, you said something about a videogame?"

"Yeah- who's pepper?"

"Pepper Potts, back home she's just Tony PA, here she's his fiance, now tell me about this videogame stuff."

"Right, see all those other guys with Peter there?" PB nodded "remember their faces" then he took his phone back and searched for something on his gallery before handing the phone back.

"Play the video."

Peter rose an eyebrow but pressed the play button, there he found Miles' roommate kneeling in front of a screen... crying? While almost screaming "they brought him back!" Pointing to a guy wearing a black robe, who looked oddly similar to one of the flesh and bone kids he just saw in the photo.

Was that a giant skeleton key on his hand?

"That's Roxas, he's Sora's nobody - the guy with brown spiky hair - and one of the main characters in the game."

"The game…"

"Kingdom Hearts, a massive crossover between Disney and… Final Fantasy? Never played that one, but Ganke's a fan of JRPG's and Kingdom Hearts' one of his favorites, I just got into it because of him and it's a cool game."

"But now there are two of those characters standing in front of you" Peter finished with a pensive frown.

"More like seated in the table behind you, but yeah."

"How you found out?"

"By accident, quite literally, you see I was running back here from the train station because I saw a couple of names that were familiar - Destiny Islands and Twilight Town - so I was distracted and almost crashed with Roxas - he was skateboarding - so I sidestepped but he slipped anyway and I helped him get up, then he was _thanks, dude, what's your name? You're chill and I like meeting new people _so I told him my name and he told me his and then everything clicked."

"You didn't ask anything else?"

"No, he skated away before I could say anything else."

Peter sighed and got a bunch of fries on his mouth.

"I was supposed to be on my way to a date with MJ you know? Got a shower and perfume, the fancy clothes and even flowers, then there's a red flash and Bam! This… sometimes I wonder if whoever's in charge just likes to mess with me" then he stared at the basket of fries on the table "screw it" and waved at someone behind Miles.

"Yeah? Need something else?" A lady younger than Peter asked, using a finger to pull her hair behind her ear.

"You have something that can pack a punch?"

"Sure, there's the Diavolo burger. Cloud says you get visions eating that stuff."

"No, no I meant a drink."

"Does this look like a bar to you?"

"Oh… sorry, It's just" he dragged a hand over his face "I need something to pass some news I just got."

The lady looked at Miles, who just shrugged.

"Well, you _do _look like you need a drink pal," she said after some consideration "hang on a second" and then she disappeared behind the counter, to a room Miles presumed was the kitchen.

"What was that about?"

Peter shrugged "One of the few things the Tony of my world was right about is that a good drink helps to digest this kind of news."

Miles opened his mouth to say something but the lady returned, placing a glass of… something in front of Peter and a can of soda in front of him with a wink.

"Go ahead, it's no Bloody Mary but it will do the trick."

"How much?" Peter asked already reaching for his wallet.

"On the house" she answered with a smile "You _really _look like you need it."

Peter smirked and rose the glass to her before downing half the glass in one big gulp.

"Whoa there big guy, that ain't lemonade."

Peter lowered the glass while grimacing as the liquid went down his throat making his eyes water, but let out a satisfied _ahhh_ afterward.

"It definitely did the trick," he said with a smile "what's in this?"

"That's for me to know and for you to guess, grandpa called it _shotgun_, two shots of the stuff? Enough to down an elephant."

Peter actually laughed at that, the sound free and unbothered, making Miles smile.

"Oh man, I needed that. Thanks, miss…?"

"Tifa," she said, also smiling "a pleasure to serve. Now don't go around saying I sell that stuff, this was a one time deal, and if you get drunk you were never here. Got a reputation to keep."

"No worries, I'm no lightweight you know?" And then he downed the rest of the glass in another gulp, making Tifa roll her eyes while picking up the glass.

"If you need anything else just ask" and with that, she was gone.

"You drink?"

"I do a lot of things you don't know about kid, not all of them good" his smile went out, now he was just sad.

"Hey," Miles said placing a hand over his arm "You're the best Peter I know ok? If you had a bad moment… Well, that doesn't make you bad, I mean… Uncle Aaron was… yeah… he wasn't perfect, ok? But he was a good uncle and maybe… if he had the chance… maybe he could have been _good_ too so… you're good Peter, ok? _You're good."_

Miles sniffed and Peter wiped his eye, both smiled and, despite the silence, understood what the other tried to say but had no words to express.

"You're also good, kid."

Miles' smile widened, and he was ready to say something else - probably something sappy - but a shout interrupted him.

"Hey! Miles! Over here!" Roxas waved at him from his table, and suddenly his smile stiffened and a chill went down his spine.

"He's waving at us, right?" Peter asked, looking just about to bang his head against the table.

"Yup!" He answered already getting up.

Peter just sighed, grabbing his basket of fries.

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Chibi here, on schedule!
> 
> Chapter 3 (or six, whatever) hype! Introducing the Spiderverse into the mix! Yay! Now I won't bloat this thing with every spider-verse character but I imagined these two would work nicely for the plot of the fic, also adding some more complications to what, so far, was smooth sailing. It will take a couple more chapters before actual villains show up, there's a little more development to be done, but! We're close to the squishy, juicy, succulent meat of the fic (Really, I have soooo many cool things planned for you to see that I have to physically restrain myself from spoiling everything here in the notes).
> 
> Sadly, as I mentioned at the start of the chapter, my lovely Beta couldn't work on this chapter. I mean, it's the holidays and I can only imagine how busy she is (I'm busy as hell with finals too, this coming week will be torture) so I thought about maybe delaying the chapter, but there's a schedule already set so better not to disappoint you guys. I don't think it's a bad chapter, but I'm not a native English speaker so please excuse me if there were any grammar problems.
> 
> The next chapter will be up on December 30 (New year's eve, yay!) where problems seem to be going on everywhere, much to Riku's dismay.
> 
> See you next time. Bye!


	7. Chapter not 4 - Traverse Town

Chapter 3.5 - Traverse Town

"Master Yen Sid" Riku greeted the old master when he entered his little room, the buzz of movement coming from the outside dying down as the door was closed once again.

"Master Riku" the wizard answered solemnly "I hope I am not interrupting you in the scarce free time you have available."

Riku grimaced.

"I'd rather still be out there helping, stuck in here I feel useless."

"I can assure you," Master Yen Sid said firmly "that you are anything but, Master Riku. Your aid during this crisis has proven to be most needed and greatly appreciated by those in need of it."

"All the help I've given has been directing the newcomers to the refuge areas or just carrying supplies."

"Ah! But it is those small gestures of goodwill that matter the most in this situation. Time will come to take more direct action, of it I have no doubt, but for now this is the best we can do."

Riku looked at his stoic face for a moment before nodding and taking a seat on his bed, the wizard doing the same on a nearby chair.

"Sorry master, I'm just… worried."

"No need for apologies, I can perfectly understand your situation. I must confess that I am also at a loss about what to do, the sudden displacement of so many inhabitants of different worlds we have never seen, or heard of, along with their progressive loss of memory… it has been a trying week for all of us indeed."

Both fell into silence after that.

"The news I've come to deliver," Master Yen Sid said after much contemplation "I know I should hold to my own until this situation is dealt with, there is enough in your mind already to add another worry, but a recent discovery makes me believe this is all connected, and that the key to unraveling this mystery resides with a friend we all believed lost."

"You can't mean-" Riku said jumping from the bed, eyes wide and unbelieving, but his sentence was cut short when Kairi entered the room abruptly.

"Riku! Come, there's- oh! Master Yen Sid" she greeted with a small bow.

"Be at ease Kairi, you are not interrupting anything. I was ready to take my leave, Merlin still needs help extending the limits of the city for the newcomers."

"But Master-"

"That was all I had to tell you, Master Riku. I ask for forgiveness, it was unfair of me to put this additional burden on your already weighted mind, but if it helps solve our current situation then I am sure you concur with me that it would have been unfair on my part to keep it to myself. I trust you will consider carefully when and to whom to reveal this" then he gave both a small bow of his head and walked out of the room.

"What was all that about?"

Riku almost told her everything, but a single look at her tired face, the small bags under her eyes and slightly unkempt hair, he could understand the reluctance of the old master.

"Nothing, just some worries he had about this whole mess."

Kairi gave him a look but shook her head and took his hand.

"Come, Ienzo just landed and has some important news from Radiant Garden. It seems this is happening everywhere but the arrivals are greater here, he'll start taking groups to other worlds that agreed to shelter them for the time being," she said while dragging him towards the recently repurposed colosseum in the fifth district, now working both as a massive shelter until they relocated the refugees around the town, and base of operations of sorts "hopefully people will stop popping here soon, we're running out of space."

It took them some time to reach the meeting room, but when they entered the tent they used for meetings Ienzo was already waiting for them while Chip and Dale were fuzzing over some gadget on the table.

"Nobody else? Lea? Isa? Xion?"

"Another group appeared in the third district, apparently quite large so almost everyone went to deal with it."

Riku and Kairi sighed tiredly and took their seats around the table.

"What are the news Ienzo?"

The scientist tapped something on a device on his hand, and the one on the table projected an image.

"You could do that all the time?" Dale said annoyed, but Ienzo ignored him.

"Lord Ansem and Vexen have been researching about our current problem and so far have been able to dismiss influence from both Heartless and Nobodies, so darkness is not the problem here" as he said it images of a shadow and a dusk appeared on the projection, both crossed by a red X "then they focused on the displaced people, to track any kind of pattern, but that also turned fruitless due to the progressively accelerating decay of their memories. Some of the people who appeared during the first day are now convinced that they always lived in Radiant Garden, and more troubling, their surroundings have accommodated to fit such claims."

"What do you mean?"

"This," he said "is Michelle Jhones, as many of our arrivals she claimed to be from a world called Earth" an image appeared of the girl, from a world they have heard a lot about lately, and nodded "this is a recording of her first arrival to Radiant Garden.

_"What's going on? One moment I'm going to this field trip then there's this red flash everywhere and now I'm… wherever this is. A-are my friends at least ok? So far I've only seen Ned and-"_

"I've chosen this example in particular because I've been… _exposed _to this strange phenomenon personally, and so far I could only single this specific instance by chance, and it's worrying to think this may be happening without us being aware of it. This next recording happened during another interview with a newcomer yesterday.

_"Can you tell-"_

_"Hey Ienzo, sorry for interrupting but Ned was being… Well, Ned, and he asks if you can lend him that tome he likes again."_

_"Third shelf, second row, the fourth book to the left."_

_"Thanks."_

_"You're welcome MJ. Sorry for the-"_

"There's this energy lecture that completely amnesiac subjects emanate" Ienzo continued, a slight tremor in his voice betraying his uneasiness at the recording "and Vexen agreed with me that if it could be traced back to an origin it could shed some light into what is happening, so with the help of Lord Ansem and King Mickey we discovered this."

The projection changed and now it was a map of worlds, but there was only one… or half of it.

"Here we could trace signatures similar to the archives we had of both Destiny Islands and Twilight Town" Kairi gasped "both currently vanished, so it leads to speculation about a possible merger? An imbalance that caused all this problem? Just a theory, but worth further investigation."

"Why just half of a world then?" Riku asked, his frown deep as his mind went a mile per hour.

Could all this be Sora's fault?

"That is because the world is working as the center of a black hole, which should be impossible, but I can't see any other explanation. Well, it _could_ be a wormhole, but that is even more ridiculous, so black hole it is." Dale explained.

"The energy we traced is chaotic in nature and extremely potent, so much I would dare say it could defy reality itself."

"Yup!" Chip nodded "the lectures we got from Ansem the wise were off the charts! Stronger than the Cornerstone of light, and we used to think _that_ was off the charts."

"You know Roxas went missing when all this started," Ienzo said sitting down on another chair,rubbing his eyes and letting out a tired sigh "along with Hayner, Pence and Olette. Cid, Leon, Cloud and Tifa have been recently confirmed to be also missing." everyone else in the room gasped at the news, but Ienzo just nodded and continued. "This is not a simple coincidence, I am certain of it, so whatever is happening, we'll find our answers there."

"When do we leave?" Riku asked without even thinking.

"There is a gummi ship ready for departure at the entrance of town."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Chibi here, on schedule!
> 
> Chapter 3.5 (seven, you could say... we're killing this!) hype! Now we get a larger scope on the problem, not only a group of kids on summer vacation, so we're past halfway of this first introduction arc of the first book, past 10k words and I couldn't be more happy.
> 
> Happy new year! Hope your wishes come true, mine are not too hard I guess... just pass next school year with good grades and finish all I have planned for this fic, so let's all try our best, ok?
> 
> My (now) ex-beta won't be helping me anymore, have no idea why and that makes me sad, but there is a schedule to respect so... yeah, another un-beta chapter. If anyone could help me with that? Please?
> 
> Next chapter will be up on January 15, when we'll get a flashback, tears, supportive Sora... and Cloud. 
> 
> See you next time. Bye!


	8. Chapter 4 - Destiny Islands

Chapter 4 - Destiny Islands

_"Aunt May?"_

_"Yes, sweety?" She asked as she picked up little Peter's backpack and lunchbox._

_"Your name is May Parker?"_

_She cocked her head to a side, wondering what her niece was curious about._

_"Yes Peter, " she said, then gasped dramatically placing a hand over her chest after securing the backpack on her back "are you already forgetting about your poor old, old aunt May?"_

_"No!" The 5-year-old gasped loudly "you're my favorite aunt!"_

_She just smiled and ruffled his hair, looking thoroughly amused at his reaction._

_"It's just…" Peter continued "Miss Ana told us to look for a big word on the dictionary."_

_"In the dictionary, Peter" May corrected him gently taking his hand and starting the walk back to their apartment._

_"Right, in the dictionary," Peter said with a nod "and I found a word that the Miss said it meant that two people with the same name being together was bad."_

_May stopped for a moment as they waited for the traffic light to change back to red._

_"And what word was that?" She asked, curious about where this was going._

_"Inc- int- incecus?" Then he looked for something on his jeans pocket and took out a piece of paper and handed it to her "this word."_

_She took the piece of paper and went red immediately, looking back at Peter but finding pure curiosity on those big doe eyes._

_Then she started laughing._

_"Where-" she said after finally getting over her fit "oh Peter, only you could find 'Incest' an interesting word."_

_"It was a funny word" Peter mumbled feeling a little embarrassed at himself after his aunt's reaction._

_"It's ok to be curious Peter," she said kindly "I would be worried if you weren't, with that big brain of yours" she added poking his temple, making him giggle._

_Then they went through a park and May made them sit on a bench before continuing._

_"My name is May Parker, but only because I married your uncle Ben. I had another name before that."_

_"Really?"_

_May chuckled at her niece's expression._

_"Uh-huh!" She nodded "do you want to know?" Peter nodded enthusiastically, making May suppress a laugh and looking everywhere before lowering to Peter's ear as if telling him a secret._

_Peter looked ecstatic._

_"May Reilly."_

_"May Rally?"_

_"No sweety," she said, laughing this time "Reilly."_

_"What a weird name."_

_"It's Irish," she said with a shrug._

_"You're from Ireland?"_

_"Maybe," she said mysteriously, relishing in the way Peter's eyes widened in admiration._

_She tugged his hand and they were walking again._

_"When a boy and a girl like each other a lot and get married the girl gets the name of the boy, and that is not Incest. I would explain more but it gets messy."_

_"Yucky messy?"_

_"Yucky messy" May nodded and Peter made a face, keeping up with her until they reached their building._

_"It's not fair," he said when they started walking up the stairs to their apartment "the boy should get the name of the girl too."_

_"Maybe," May said fishing for the keys "but it's a tradition."_

_Peter had a frown when they entered and Ben greeted them, then out of nowhere he pointed at his uncle and declared "Now your name is Ben Rally."_

_Ben gave May a questioning look, but she was leaning on the sofa, bent over in laughter._

* * *

"My name's… Ben… Reilly?"

Peter jumped from his seat, the image from his memory wiped away along with a tear as he blinked several times.

_"No! You're not!"_ He was about to scream "_YOU'RE NOT!" _But the words wouldn't go past his lips because when he lifted his eyes he _saw _him.

There was a loud buzz on his head that almost made him flinch, but the words - _were those words? -_ that filled his head shouted _"Not his name, no, but similar" _his eyes narrowed _"more than similar, more, equal… equal…"_

_"You're like me!"_

"You're-"

Miles was interrupted by Sora, loudly calling Peter's name and also snapping him out of his trance.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm… I'm fine" he said instead, sitting down again, noticing that his sudden reaction had gathered a bit of attention.

"You knew May?" He asked instead, earning a worried frown from Pepper and a confused one from the rest.

"May…" _Ben _said with a sigh while dragging his hand over his hair "she was… family, yeah. I-"

"I think we should leave _Ben,_" Miles said through clenched teeth, tugging at the man's sleeve "It was nice to see you again Roxas, next time maybe we can meet without the old man here?"

"Sure?" Roxas answered uncertainty, his eyes jumping from Peter to Ben.

"Cool! Cool, sorry for interrupting your meal everybody, bye!" And then he was gone, dragging the older man with him.

"Are you ok Peter?" Pepper asked softly, worry clear on her face.

"Yeah" Peter answered slowly "just… surprised."

"Maybe this is one of those things Squall say I should steer clear from," Cloud said, earning a glare from said man "but what was all that about?"

Pepper opened her mouth but gave Peter a side glance, said teenager just gave a little nod and turned to the door, letting her explain everything as those last words from that strange buzz played on a loop inside his head.

_"You're like me."_

Sora's worried frown never left him for the rest of the meal.

* * *

The rest of the day went by in a haze, aware that he was being led through a town that he remembered glimpses of and words said now and then, his own voice joining in robotically sometimes, but he might have been blindfolded for all the difference it would have made.

He felt bad for everybody, especially Pepper since he was aware enough to know they were just trying to cheer him up, but even now all he could see was that strange mix of shock and confusion on _Ben's _face when he saw him back at the restaurant, and that… _feeling? _In his head - or was it his gut? He didn't know anymore - that pushed him to keep thinking about it like there was something hidden from him, that _Ben _and Miles were the missing pieces to this puzzle and he _has _to find them or else…

A soft knock on his room's door startled him out of his thoughts, having to blink several times to clear his sight and reach for his glasses before realizing he couldn't see clearly because he had been crying.

There was another knock, along with Sora's voice.

"Peter? Are you ok? I thought that maybe… Ummm… maybe you want to talk? I-I mean, if you don't want to it's ok, I don't mind, it maybe… maybe it could help?"

His voice was soft and meek, almost afraid that he would say no, and he could imagine the other boy ready to bolt back to his own room to die of embarrassment if he did so.

"Come in," he said loud enough to be heard "it's unlocked."

Sora stepped in almost frightened and Peter had to wonder why, so far all he had seen from his tentative friend had been loudness and exuberance, so this was a surprise.

"Pepper and Roxas said to leave you alone, that you needed some time to-" he started, raising his eyes from the floor to look at him, but there must have been something on his face because he stopped talking and just… stared at him, some sort of inner struggle going on inside those blue eyes, before they steeled in determination.

It took Sora three strides to stand in front of him, and before he could ask what was going on he was being pulled up and held against another body.

It took him a second to realize that Sora was hugging him.

"It's ok" he whispered, a hand going to his head, pushing it to his shoulder while gently running his fingers through his hair, while the other went around his back, holding him firmly on his current position.

"It's ok" he repeated, "Pepper told us everything, just let it out, it's ok."

Peter _knew _everything was ok, that he had accepted May's and Ben's passing a long time ago, that he was happy with his current life, along with Pepper, Tony, and Harley, that he had already moved on, but when he tried to say it he found no words would come out.

The first sound that came out when he opened his mouth was as if he was choking, so he tried again, but this time a sob came out, followed by another, and another, and another…

Soon he realized that his sight had gone blurry again, that there was wetness falling down his cheeks, and that _he _was not ok.

"I miss them," he said first, almost incredulous that he had actually said that "I still miss them."

It was as if a flood had been opened, the arms that hanged limply by his sides clutching the body currently holding him in a vice grip as he let everything just go away.

It was true that he was happy, that he had moved on from their deaths but he had never acknowledged that small part of him that never really mourned for them. It had all happened too fast for him, the change from being just Peter Parker to being Tony's charge and adapting to this new lifestyle to really process that his old life had gone away along with May and Ben, and despite he had cried for them on their funeral and mourned not having them with him anymore he had practically forgotten all about his life in Queens.

He hadn't even returned to their small apartment or checked their belongings, besides little things Tony would get for him from the warehouse where everything was stored.

So he cried and cried for what felt like hours as he realized that what sent him for a loop about _Ben _was that he had, with that sudden memory, reminded him of a time when everything was simpler and that forgetting about it he had forgotten about an important part of himself.

Nothing would change, he knew, between him and his new family, but he would now share with them what little he had left from his old family, so it would no longer feel like two separate parts of his life, but like one, huge whole.

May and Ben would have liked that.

And he would look for _Ben _again, ask him about May and get to know a little more about his family, maybe so he could understand the _You're like me _that had driven him so crazy until now.

"You feel better now?" Sora asked once Peter's breathing became more steady.

"Y-yeah," he said blushing a little after releasing Sora and stepping back "t-thanks for that."

"It's ok" he replied smiling "you want to talk about it? Pepper told us about what happened, but it must be different coming from you."

Peter considered declining for a moment, not sure if sharing something so intimate with an almost stranger was ok, but he had cried on said stranger's shoulder while being held like a small child, and he still felt no ill intent from Sora, so he relented this once and nodded, sitting on his bed and signaling for Sora to sit too.

"Well" he started after sighing "May and Ben were my aunt and uncle, they took me in when I was about 4 because my parents died in an airplane crash…"

* * *

Pepper took the cup of coffee Cloud offered her, blowing off the steam before taking a little sip.

"Thanks, Cloud."

"No worries Ms. Ironman" Cloud answered easily, ignoring the glare Pepper sent him "so about today…"

"I already explained all Peter would-"

"No, no, I didn't mean about the kiddies drama, that can of worms I plan on not touching with a ten-foot pole, let Sora or mini-me deal with it. What I meant was about the island tour, you enjoyed it?"

The incredulous look Pepper gave him was answer enough.

"Thought so" he answered with a chuckle "not to be mean or anything but Squall is going back to Twilight Town tomorrow to help Cid with the workshop and usually the kiddies go with him to visit their old gang, so what about you send mini-Stark with them and I take you on another tour tomorrow?"

"Are you asking me out!?"

"What? No! I mean, who wouldn't want to date this piece of art" he said waggling his eyebrows, making Pepper snort "but you're like waaaay out of my league, besides that having Iron Man on my ass is the last thing I want."

"Then why would I send Peter away to spend a whole day alone with you?"

It was his turn to give her an incredulous look.

"You really don't see it?"

"See what?"

"Imagine the look on everyone's face when they see _me _taking _you _around the island!"

Oh god, this was a dumber version of Tony.

"Besides Squall and Cid will be babysitting so there's nothing to worry about!"

"And that is reassuring because?"

"Well, you already know Squall and Cid is mini-me's dad so…" he said with a shrug.

"You mean he's your father? Why he's not here-"

"Cid my dad?" Cloud asked with a laugh "Nah, the old man's not my dad, he's Roxas'" at Pepper's confused frown he elaborated "Mom wasn't exactly a role model, liked livin' la Vida loca and all that shit, and my dad… well… then Cid came one day and became a regular for a while. Heh, would make the bed sound-"

"To the point, please" Pepper interrupted curtly, while empathic with the story being told not too keen on knowing such details.

"Ok, ok," Cloud said raising his arms in a placating manner, smirk still on his face "Mom got pregnant and got Cid roped, the guy wouldn't deny his son even if you could tell he wasn't really into it, and a few days after Roxas was born she left" he finished with a shrug "Cid got us into his home, I met Squall and the rest is history."

Pepper fell silent, amazed at the easiness Cloud had as he talked about… all that, and as if reading her mind, or her face really, he shrugged.

"It's ok, I've cried my fair share, and Cid wasn't too bad, not dad material by any stretch but not a bad guy. He still keeps in touch, and gave Squall the job at his workshop, his way of helping I guess? Will deny it to the tomb I'm sure, or that he still worries about mini-me but he's like that."

Pepper regarded him for a while, the cup of coffee cooling on her hands but she paid it no attention as she tried to piece the man in front of her.

She wasn't quite sure if he was being sincere or if all this was a huge joke for him. The smile still on his face wasn't helping his case.

"I'll go with you tomorrow," she said after a while "_if _you answer a question seriously."

"Ask away."

"Is this Cid really Roxas's father?"

He started laughing

"That, at least," he said as he walked out of the kitchen "was completely true. Prepare light clothing Ms. Ironman, tomorrow's going to be a hot day" and with that, he left a very confused, and very frustrated Pepper Potts behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Chibi here, not so on schedule, sorry. Lights went out in my house for a whole day on 15, and yesterday I just forgot, so here we go today!
> 
> Chapter 4 (eight, yay!) Has less comedy than the others, and that's intentional. At some point we'll wrap the infinity stones thing the prelude left open, and that won't be fun, for anyone, so there you go, a kind of sad but bonding chapter.
> 
> Still no beta, but I swear I'm working on that, messages were sent and answers are being expected. Soon, soon...
> 
> The next batch of chapters are going through some changes (mainly new character introductions because when I wrote them I was half brain dead thanks to finals, but now I can write cool stuff again so yay! Improvements!) So maybe next chapter will be delayed by a week tops, (so during february's first week) but after that things should go as smoothly as they have been so far.
> 
> See you next time. Bye!


	9. Chapter not 5 - Destiny islands

Chapter 4.5 - Destiny Islands

From the moment he became _truly_ aware of himself - and _no, _just being conscious doesn't count - he knew he lived on borrowed time.

For some reason, Ventus needed to be the one to forge the old fart's fancy blade, but like he was too much of a wimp the _only _logical solution was to split him in two, for some stupid reason that made sense in the old man's brain at the moment, thus he was born.

He hated it, he hated Ventus for harboring him all this time, he hated the old man for bringing him out, he hated _everything._

But, as much as he loathed to admit, the old mas was leagues stronger than him so he had no option but to do as he was ordered.

Just like a good dog, but oh man how much he wanted to bite.

Then something interesting happened, Ventus actually defeated him. He shattered his own heart in the process, the idiot, but actually did what was needed to do to defeat him.

It… _stung _his pride because he was supposed to be a pushover, and, surprisingly, it also stung his dark heart. He supposed that like the good dog he was, he grew attached to his little brother after taking care of him for a while before the _master _took him away and he met those losers he started to call friends.

The realization that it hurt him to be replaced so easily made him hate Ventus even more.

By the time of their final confrontation, there was enough hate and contempt driving Ventus (and he was supposed to be the darker side, _ha_) that he could _almost _imagine they had some sort of bond once again, but it was mostly due to a genuine desire to keep him away from those he held dear that Ventus found the determination to stop him.

That… _intrigued _him. Not at that moment, of course, back then he was panicking as he was dragged back to the darkness he came from, but now…

Then the old man decided to bring him back for round two.

Enter Sora.

If Ventus was his little brother then Sora was his younger, naive twin. It was like having Ventus all for himself again (minus the catatonic state Ventus had been at the time), even if the main goal was to get his little brother back in his own body.

The guy also followed the weird trend to do everything for others, so he felt oddly attached to him, if only because he reminded of old Ven. That is until his little brother woke up and he found out he preferred Sora.

Ventus had gone through enough with him, there was more than enough bad blood between them, so while it was… _nostalgic _to face his little brother again it lost the small joy of getting under the other's skin, unlike his small encounters with Sora.

There was also the odd sensation of seeing what a _light _him would be like. Heck, his little twin tried to change his mind once he saw his face, tried to find some _good _in the miasma of darkness that was his heart, forcing him to make his stance clear before he faded away, but he couldn't deny that there was _something _once he cleared his position with Ventus.

Some of that hate faded away back into the mere annoyance he remembered from back then.

And now, thinking about it, he never really hated Sora, just the part of Ventus that was inside him… huh.

Off he went into the darkness again, from where the old fart dragged him twice already, and where he realized that he was curious about Sora, what would he do now? Where would his blind devotion to his friends take him? Would there only be light in his heart forever? What would have happened if he actually took on his offer and joined him and his little brother?

Would he get to put a little of his darkness inside his so pure heart?

Now here he was, once again dragged out of the darkness by a crazy idiot, but this time actually being given an option, and that was… _refreshing _in a way, to be allowed to do as he pleased or to go after Sora and find out himself his answers.

It was a no brainer, really.

* * *

_Knock, knock_

"This is stupid, I could just make a portal of darkness and get this done but _noooooo, _the crazy idiot had to use his shiny pebble and take away my control over darkness the-"

"Yeah? Who- Sora? Aren't you supposed to be- what's up with the hair dye? And the contact lenses… and-"

"Yeah, no. Not doing twenty questions. Where is Sora."

"Ok, I'll play along for now So-"

Letting out a frustrated growl he threw a file with documents in the face of the blond idiot in front of him.

"Read that dumbass, I'm not Sora. Apparently, he's my twin."

Whatever retort was about to be sent his way died the moment those words registered because after a dubious look the papers were read and an impressed _hmmm _was heard.

"Seems legit, the name's Cloud," the blond said while handing the file back.

"Well _Cloud, _where is Sora."

"Not here, that's for sure. The kiddies left for Twilight Town about an hour ago and won't be back till tomorrow."

"Perfect" he grumbled, "now what the hell do I do?"

Cloud regarded him for a moment before shrugging.

"You new in the islands?"

"Just arrived, why."

"I'm taking Miss Iron Man on a tour, wanna tag along? I think she hates me or something. Won't stop giving me nasty looks all the time."

"I wonder why…" he said sarcastically, making Cloud snort.

"You're funny, what do I call you?"

"Vanitas" he answered feeling very irritated for some reason.

"Well, Vani, want to come along?"

"_Don't _call me _that._"

"Whatever you say Vani, so yes or no?"

The only reason the blond idiot was still breathing was that he couldn't summon his keyblade or his unversed.

Stupid leather-clad wacko.

"Yes! Whatever! Not like you could annoy me even more."

Cloud just gave him a pitying look before stepping aside.

"Get inside, I'll run things with Miss Iron Man and then we're off. You're in a Hotel?"

"What part of _just arrived _didn't register in your brain?"

"I'll take that as a no, you get the couch then. Squall would bitch about me not keeping the kiddie's twin safe."

"Really? Just like that?"

"Eh, the papers look legit, your looks look legit, and if you're lying you'll get an angry mamma bear Squall on your ass, and even _I _don't want an angry mamma bear Squall on my ass. You coming in?"

"Whatever" Vanitas huffed before going inside the house.

* * *

"They grow so fast" _sniff._

_"He is older than you by at least a decade I'd wager"_

"Shut up! He's still my little dark angel."

**"We'll be such a good influence on him! I'll teach him how to really use that blade of his."**

_"You can't, we don't have bodies, remember?"_

**"Killjoy."**

"If you ladies would stop fighting, we still have bastards to bring back. The plot of this story demands it! And the shiny red stone embedded in my arm too."

_"Aye aye, Captain!"_

"**Aye aye, Captain!"**

"You know, having you two hear me at last, feels nice."

_"Aw, we do love you."_

**"It's just more fun to mess with your brain."**

"Forget what I said, you two are the worst."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Chibi here, on schedule! Kind of! I did say this may take an extra week, so... there you go
> 
> Chapter 4.5 (nine, you're counting, I'm not counting!) this was a beast by itself, took me about 5 or 6 tries to get it to a point where I was kind of confidentth the end result. This is not beta-ed yet and I'm sure it can be noticed, but I couldn't make me delay this even more, because, well, Vanitas! And that little cameo in the end too (couldn't alter the fonts so I had to work with what I had), cookies if you can guess who that is.
> 
> Welp, Vanitas almost didn't made it to this chapter, it was either Maleficent or Hela (Evil Thor sister) or both, but then I rememberes that Vanitas existed, and got to see the videos of the new KH dlc so... there you go.
> 
> Still no beta, but I swear I'm working on that, messages were sent and answers are being expected. Hopefully soon.
> 
> The next batch of chapters are ready... kind of... Really I can't make me delay this further so I'll update this note later with the upload date, maybe the day after tomorrow? I really need a beta, not feeling sure all this is ok or not is stressing me out... please help.
> 
> See you next time. Bye!


	10. Quick update

(Update 17/02/2020)

Hi! No, I'm not dead, just away in a remote place camping with my family. Well, not now, atm I'm in a nearby town buying stuff to eat because dad dearest can't fish as good as he thought he could (back at camp signal is horrible) so... Updates! I had to delay the next chapter all the way to end of month (Sorry!) Just to be on the safe side, you never know with dad, he could take us back tomorrow or next week, but stuff is ready to go up once I'm back home. Here is the upload schedule.

February 29: Chapter 5 - Twilight Town

Cid being his own brand of dad, and Hayner, Pence and Ollete.

March 15: Chapter 5.5 - Destiny Islands

Riku's arrival, Vanitas and Kairi(s)

March 30: Chapter 6 - Destiny Islands

Enter Tony and Harley Stark

April 15: Chapter 6.5 - Destiny Islands

"Oh, I would love to punch his perfect face. Why? Because I hate Riku!" - Sora

April 30: Chapter 7 - Twilight Town

Vanitas being a horrible influence, but procuring lots of fun, ft. An abandoned mansion.

This update will be replaced by the new chapter once that is up.

Bye!


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